largefeature

They’ve been the horses on ice at Spruce Meadows. While clouds and a refreshing breeze cooled things off at the sprawling equestrian venue Saturday, the site’s been baking during the North American tournament this week in uncustomary heat that can take a quick toll on the four-legged competitors, said Spruce Meadows Vice-President Ian Allison. “These […]

It can be said that the sum of a man can be measured by those whose lives he touched, the difference he made, and those who grieve and the emptiness he leaves when he is gone. By that account, and by so many others, Richard McDowell was a great man. A generous man. A kind man. A man who will […]

EDMONTON — Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice says that if he becomes premier next month, he will conduct an immediate review of Alberta’s foreign trade offices to address complaints they have not been effective. Prentice told reporters this week the review could result in staff changes and foreign offices being relocated or shut down.

The last time Canada hosted an international women’s youth soccer tournament 12 years ago, a starry-eyed Christine Sinclair was paving the way for what has been a supreme career by winning the golden boot as the top scorer and the golden ball as the MVP.

Nothing thrives in Hollywood like the hope of another film success. So when Liam Neeson’s thriller Taken took in a surprising $226.8 million US worldwide, the father-daughter action sub-genre was reborn.

When I told people I was visiting Mexico City this summer, the first thing they'd say was, 'But aren't you afraid of ancient Aztecs?" I thought about that as I stood atop the 66-metre adobe brick Pyramid of the Sun just northeast of Mexico City.

Miriam the surrogate is wearing four estrogen patches across her lower abdomen and a Santa Muerte religious idol on a delicate chain around her neck. Before she moved to the resort town of Cancun to live in a small house teeming with eight other Mexican women preparing to carry babies for international couples, Galicia was a police officer in Toluca. She and her fellow officers believed Santa Muerte - the Saint of Death - would protect them.

The Aztecs called it “xocolatl” or “bitter water.” In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the word came from “xococ” (bitter) and “atl” (water). It was used to identify a bitter paste made from pounded cocoa beans that was added to hot water to make a stimulating drink. Passing through various cultures over centuries, and with the addition of sweeteners, we now know that paste as “chocolate.”

The City of Vancouver has paid a Richmond company $50,000 to develop a prototype of a bike helmet dispensing machine that it may not even use as part of its proposed bike-sharing scheme. SandVault Group Global Solutions was contracted by the city last November to build the prototype, which can dispense up to 20 clean helmets, and “quarantine” used helmets until they have been cleaned and checked for cracks before reuse. At the same time, several other companies have also been contracted to come up with “helmet solutions.”

When he’s in Davos, Switzerland, this week, Mayor Naheed Nenshi won’t only be breathing in rarefied air because of the Alpine altitude. It’s exceedingly rare that a mayor, let alone one from Canada, gets an invitation to rub shoulders with the world’s business and power-broker elite at the World Economic Forum.

It’s hardly surprising that identity is one of the abiding themes of contemporary literature. “Who am I?” is a primal question, after all, and an especially pertinent one at a time when international frontiers and the distinctions they once enforced are more porous than ever. But in the case of Kamal Punja, the hero of M.G. Vassanji’s new novel, it’s a question whose answer has so many layers you might want a notebook to keep them all straight.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.